In Jalisco, Hiking Isn’t Just Climbing — It’s Senderismo John Pint - Mexico News Daily
go to original September 14, 2022

Senderos de México is an organization that catalogs, maintains and signposts trails (senderos) in Mexico. More than that, it promotes a concept called senderismo, which I find quite impossible to translate into English.

To many, the word senderismo evokes the joy, the elation and the mystique of wandering in the great outdoors. It’s often translated into “hiking” in English, but this word strikes me as ponderously practical, somehow embodying more of the exertion and perspiration of senderismo than the exhilaration.

I see the word “hiking” as down to earth, while senderismo is a word that seems to float in the air like a fleecy cloud.

Not long ago, Senderos de México (Trails of Mexico) gave a presentation on “the experience of trail walking,” featuring two speakers. One was Matteo Volpi, a long-distance hiker and creator of the Volpi backpack, the only ultralight knapsack made in Mexico. The other speaker was Jesús “Chuy” Moreno, a nature photographer who teaches hands-on natural science courses in the woods. I thought these two were perfect choices for speakers, as each helps us focus on a different aspect of senderismo.

Volpi spoke about his experience hiking along the 4,000-kilometer-long Pacific Crest Trail, which stretches across the United States from its border with Mexico all the way to Canada.

Long-distance hiking emphasizes the sport aspect of senderismo. The hiker learns to travel light and to travel far, all the while enjoying the panoramic vistas of mountains forests and deserts, never losing sight of the aesthetic side of the experience.

You can look for trails on their website, Senderos de México or their Facebook page. On top of that, the organization has just announced the imminent publication of guides, in both Spanish and English, to trails around Lake Chapala. In the future, they say, they hope to include hiking sites all over Mexico.

Pick out a trail and discover what senderismo is all about!

The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, since 1985. His most recent book is Outdoors in Western Mexico, Volume Three. More of his writing can be found on his blog.

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